Success should be celebrated! That’s why it was time for streamers and cake at Tilburg University. Optimus, the 1e virtual employee of the Finance Service Center (FSC), recently experienced the official first working day. The FSC team sees Optimus as a welcome new colleague who will help to reduce the administrative workload.

“Hi, I’m Optimus. I am a software robot and I get the robot out of the FSC employee.”

During onboarding, Optimus immediately learned his/her (?) first important “trick” namely assigning validation criteria to incoming invoices in Proactis. This task is based on always the same standard decision rules, has few exceptions and must be performed the same way every day. So a wonderful task for Optimus to immediately show what it is capable of.

Of course, that one task is just “the beginning. After all, from now on Optimus is available 7 days a week and 24 hours a day to take over all sorts of tedious and time-consuming tasks from FSC employees. This week, Optimus will start categorizing incoming invoices in the accounts payable mailbox. And then it will start booking memorials. And then create new creditors in SAP. In short, there is plenty of work ahead for Optimus.

“With the deployment of Robotic Process Automation (RPA) in the FSC, we want to robotize as many work processes as possible. This will free up valuable time for other, more enjoyable and more inspiring work” – Clementine Lichtenberg

Not just saving time, Optimus also ensures better quality.

When deploying virtual workers(Robotic Process Automation), time savings are often the first thing that comes to mind. Although important, saving time is certainly not the only reason Optimus is deployed in the FSC. The deployment of the software robot should emphatically also provide:

• Better continuity in the execution of work, even during leave or illness of employees;
• Be able to perform more checks to prevent errors and improve data quality;
• Short lead times of processes, faster response to complaints and inquiries;
• More job satisfaction and less workload for employees;

About Tilburg University

Tilburg University was founded in 1927 as the Roman Catholic College of Commerce. Almost 100 years later, this educational institution has grown into a medium-sized multidisciplinary university, with nearly 20,000 students (2020), over 900 scholars and 600+ employees. The educational offerings consist of 73 different bachelor & master programs, with a focus on human and social sciences.

About Finance Service Center (FSC).

The Finance Service Center (17 FTE) is responsible for all operational financial processes within the university and consists of accounts payable, accounts receivable, accounting and the functional management of the systems used. To best serve our customers – employees, students, suppliers – we have established a front office.

RPA in education

Tacstone Technology has now introduced RPA – successfully – at many educational institutions. The number of software robots supporting Student Administration, Finance, HR, ICT and other departments is growing steadily. Are you curious about the possibilities for RPA in your educational institution? Then send a message to Ebert Knol | Tacstone and we will contact you a.s.a.p.!